"I can't breathe, I've been stabbed": an eighteen-year-old is handcuffed in the United Kingdom while he is dying
Shock at the dissemination of images of a police action that takes the victim for the aggressor
LondonPolice error or indication of structural bias in the treatment of victims? The dissemination by the Hampshire police, in southern England, of images of the arrest of Henry Nowak, an eighteen-year-old young man, while he was seriously injured on the ground, has reopened this Tuesday in the United Kingdom the debate on the protocols of the security forces and decision-making in emergency situations. At the same time, it has sparked a controversy between the Labour government and Nigel Farage's Reform Party, far-right, which has accused the police of unequal treatment, in this case against white people, "due to the dangerous ideology of so-called anti-racism, which allows people to be treated differently based on race".
In the images, Nowak appears on the ground stating that he has been stabbed – he says it up to nine times – while being handcuffed by officers who ignore the warning of one of the witnesses who alerted them to the incident, and who warns them that the boy "has his mouth full of blood". Instead of making an immediate medical assessment and calling an ambulance, the officers read him his rights, after handcuffing him. When the boy insists that he has been stabbed – he says it up to five more times –, one of the police officers replies: "I don't think you've been stabbed, mate". Immobilized, almost in a fetal position, Nowak is, in reality, agonizing. A few moments later, he dies. His father has denounced "inhuman and degrading" treatment by the police.
the murder of Minneapolis police of black citizen George FloydIn statements to the media this evening, Farage repeated what he had commented in the morning via social networks: "I feel profound indignation at the way the police treated someone who had been stabbed. They didn't believe him. The last words on Earth for this man [Henry Nowak] were the reading of his rights, all for a false accusation of racism. The police – continued the leader of the Reform Party – have been trained and instructed to take this more seriously than anything else: at that moment, a false accusation of racism weighed more than the fact that someone was dying."
The videos from the body cameras of the Hampshire police officers who attended the incident were released Monday night, shortly after the sentence against Vickrum Digwa was known, who was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 21 years in prison. Prime Minister Keir Starmer commented on them in the following terms: "I have seen the body camera footage. They are harrowing, and I have to say that, as the father of a seventeen-year-old boy, I felt sick while watching them." Starmer also said that an investigation into the facts is necessary, "including how accusations of racism influence police decision-making."
The Minister of the Interior, Shabana Mahmood, appeared in the House of Commons this afternoon amid an explosive climate to state that the recording is "disturbing and tragic", and that the Independent Office for Police Conduct – the body that oversees police conduct standards – will have to clarify the facts and, "if necessary, hold those responsible to account".
A ritual dagger and the murder weapon
The events took place on December 3, 2025, on Belmont Road, in the Portswood district (Southampton, 120 kilometers southwest of London). Nowak was returning home after going out with friends when he met Vickrum Digwa. According to the prosecution, there was no provocation from the young man. Nevertheless, Digwa attacked him with a 21-centimeter knife, stabbing him five times, one of which was fatal in the chest.
Severely injured, Nowak tried to flee, climbed onto a dumpster and a wall, leaving a trail of blood as he called for help. Several neighbors alerted emergency services and the police upon hearing the screams. But by the time officers arrived, Digwa had already begun to construct a false version of events, as has been demonstrated in court. The killer claimed that Nowak had hurled racial insults at him, had assaulted him, and had ripped off the turban traditionally worn by Sikhs. The judge, months later, would describe these claims as a ""perverse lie" intended to confuse the officers and "justify the unjustifiable".
During the trial, the prosecution dismantled Digwa's defense point by point. The accused insisted that he was acting in self-defense and that the knife was part of his religious equipment: in the United Kingdom, there is a legal exception that allows Sikhs to carry the kirpan. But the prosecution proved that the Sikh kirpan worn by the murderer was small and symbolic, while the deadly weapon used was an additional knife, with a much longer blade, with no religious justification. Nor was there any evidence that Nowak had initiated any aggression or had uttered racist insults to the aggressor. In the images, however, he does appear without his turban.
On May 28, the jury found Digwa guilty of murder. And this Monday, Judge William Mousley communicated the sentence to him. The judge remarked that Digwa had brought "shame to his family, community, and religion." His mother, Kiran Kaur, has also been found guilty of assisting an offender for helping him after the crime. She will be sentenced at a later date.
